11/28/09

Today was the final day of outside Christmas decorating. Hammering and sawing filled the air as Papa and some of the boys busily constructed the new manger scene. From a vantage point up on the roof, I could see them below. I was helping Daniel carefully string the Christmas lights, along the last few places we had missed. In a short time, we had finished the lights, and Papa and the boys had finished the Manger scene. Daniel did a few last-minute tweaks, and the lights were up! All we had to do, was wait for darkness to arrive. Shortly after we finished watching the Gator game, we went outside to turn on the Christmas lights. When the whole family had assembled on the lawn, Daniel turned them on. It was a beautiful sight! From the road, our home looked like a Gingerbread house! Mama and Papa had purchased a Christmas Tree at Ace Hardware Center. We put it up, and it almost touched the roof! We loaded down the tree with ornaments, while the a cheerful blaze issuing forth from the fireplace, warmed us all. Afterwards, everyone (even Ezra and Anna) enjoyed a small cup of eggnog. We are thankful to all be able to enjoy this Christmas Season together as a healthy, happy family.-Joseph

11/27/09

Today is the day after Thanksgiving. It is the day when we always put up Christmas lights, and decorate the house. We always exert a team effort, and work together to get things done. Daniel and I were on the roof putting up the lights, and the boys were busy working on building a manger scene. Daniel and I were able to put up several strands, using Duck Tape and Bricks! We are working on outlining the house with the colorful lights. When we finish, it looks like a Gingerbread house! Tomorrow we will finish the rest of the lights, and I will post a picture of the house at night.

On Thanksgiving day we woke up early to begin our "Thanksgiving Pilgrimage". Every Thanksgiving Day for as long as I can remember, we travel from Keystone all the way down to Fort Myers. Papa's family lives down there, and every year we meet at our Grand-Aunt's house. (Papa's, Mother's, Aunt) We left our house at 6:30, and arrived at sometime around 11:45. The meal was better than expected! There was a plump turkey, warm cornbread, buttered rolls, and much more scrumptious food! Afterwards the adults stayed inside, and most of the children went out to play the traditional game of Hide-and-seek, in Aunt Abby's backyard. The rest of the evening was spent both indoors and out, playing games with cousins and relatives. Every Thanksgiving Day is a memorable experience. It seems almost like a step back in time, because everything is almost the same as last year! We headed home that evening playing Christmas Music (since Thanksgiving was technically over) and arrived home around 10:30. We enjoyed every minute of the day, which was spent with a mixture of friends and relatives. In the Cook house, Thanksgiving is a day that we always look forward to, and enjoy immensely.

11/21/09

Early this morning, not long after KP was finished, we began working outdoors. I [Joseph] Started cleaning Anna's "playhouse" with a bucket of bleach and a scrub rush. The playhouse had collected a good assortment of bugs, and dirt over the summer! Nehemiah, Noah, and Elijah raked large piles of leaves out front. Daniel burned the leaves in the burn barrel. He and I also burned a lot of sticks, woods, and logs. We also burned an old chair. It was engulfed in the roaring inferno, and was barely distinguishable as a chair! Daniel called it the "Hot seat"!Mrs. Stanley called over, and requested some of our pine needles for her garden, (to act as mulch) so the boys and I got on the job quickly. With permission of the neighbors, we raked much of their yard free of pine needles. We managed to create such a huge pile, that Noah and I decided to create a face out of the massive pile of needles. We nicknamed him, the "Gum-drop" man! Needless to say, many people looked at it as they drove by! Later, some of the Stanleys came by to pick up the "Gum-drop man", and we disassembled him. The funny thing is--our neighbors never came outside and saw the "Gum-drop Man"! That is why I took pictures. Though the day was long, it seemed to pass quickly with all the work we did. We were able to rake a good portion of the yard, and burn a good amount of sticks and branches. The most fun thing though, was being able to work with my brothers in the cool fall weather.

11/17/09

Yesterday (September 16th) Anne, Papa, Elijah and I [Noah] went to Sea World in Orlando. We stopped at a Chick-Fil-A for lunch. Elijah and I got kids meals, and Papa and Anne got sandwiches. After lunch we went to Sea World. When we got there we got our tickets and went straight to "Manta" the new roller coaster. Papa, Anne, and I rode one it. Sometimes Papa would stay down below with Elijah, and sometimes Anne would. I rode on manta five times (with Papa twice, and with Anne three times.) Before we left, Joseph gavbe us a scavenger hunt to do there. We were supposed to find [quite a few things]. We had a lot of fun doing the scavenger hunt. It got us moving a lot! At dolphin cove we touched a dolphin. He felt like a rubbery ball. We went to the alligator place, where we saw two alligators. RIght next to it was the Mannatees. Anne, Papa, and I went on Kraken. Papa nad Anne went together in the front row, while Elijah and I got smashed pennies. We also went to shark encounter, where we went in a glass tunnel with sharks swimming all around. "Stingray Lagoon" was really fun, because you could feed Stingrays. We had fun on a roller coaster rcalled "Shamu Express". The fun playground was called "Shamu's happy harbor". WHen we got ready to leave, we rode Manta two last times. Papa took our picture [with his camera phone] at the light house and the penguin wall. We got in the car, and drove to Bass Pro SHops and looked around. THen we went to Burger King, and then we got gas. As we went home I thought about the days events. It was so fun to go to Sea World with Papa, Anne and Elijah.

11/11/09

Pictured here is the entire Cook Family along with 3 other homeschooling familes. Baby Abigail is being held by Mama in the back row. Ezra is standing in front of Noah. Anna is in the front in the dark green dress. Elijah is holding the bow and arrow in the front row. Nehemiah is standing behind Noah and Elijah. Joseph is in the back row in the gray wide-brimmed hat. Daniel is in the back row with the blue tam. Papa is standing in front of Mama, in the dark blue jacket. And I am standing beside Joseph in the back row. Last weekend, we and a few other homeschool families gathered together to celebrate Thanksgiving, in our period costumes. Anne finished the costumes just in time! (The night before) Everyone gathered outside to eat both normal, and old-fashioned food. Aafterwards, the girls enjoyed making corn-husk dolls, while the men and boys target practiced shooting both clay pigeons, and stationary targets. Everyone had a great time, and looks forward to doing it again next year. Daniel and Papa were among the many (including myself) who enjoyed using the shotgun.Our friends (L to R) Mr. Stanley, Mr. Evan, and Ms. Katie, tend to the fire, over which vensison stew was cooked!By the end of the day, even the littlest "Pilgrims" were tired--but they day was well spent. Days such as this one, live on as cherised memories.

We're back onto our normal schedule of posting! There should be at least one new post (or more) around the middle of the week.